Latest news with #RussellFoster
Time of India
09-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Can't sleep? 10 science-backed sleeping tricks that work better than counting sheep
Waking up in the middle of the night or struggling to drift off can be frustrating, but counting sheep isn't the answer. Research from Oxford University shows it's too dull to calm a racing mind. Instead, sleep experts recommend science-backed strategies, from cognitive distractions and soothing audio to breathing exercises and environmental tweaks, that are far more effective at helping you fall asleep again. Read the 10 expert-approved tricks to ease night-time restlessness and support peaceful, more restful sleep. Try cognitive distractions instead of counting sheep Counting sheep may be a classic sleep trick, but research shows it's ineffective. A study by Oxford University found it too monotonous, often leading to racing thoughts instead of rest. Dr Eidn Mahmoudzadeh, co-founder of The Sleep Project, agrees it's not mentally engaging enough to distract an anxious brain. Instead, experts suggest cognitive tasks like counting backwards from 100 or the 'cognitive shuffle,' where you list words by letters or categories. These mild mental challenges occupy the mind just enough to steer it away from overthinking. For many, this approach proves far more effective than sheep in easing back into sleep. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Offer Valid for the First 100 Bookings Only Birla Estates Learn More Undo Use soothing audio to calm your mind and fall asleep faster Listening to familiar audio can be surprisingly effective for falling asleep. Experts like Professor Russell Foster from Oxford suggest calming content—like radio shows or audiobooks—can lull the mind away from anxious thoughts. For instance, some people play the same audiobook nightly so the predictability helps switch off mental chatter. White noise, low-frequency static, or even mentally recounting a familiar book plot can have a similar effect. This gentle distraction engages the brain just enough to prevent overthinking without fully waking you up. So rather than avoiding your phone altogether, using it wisely for soothing audio might just help you drift off faster. Avoid checking the time, as it leads to sleep anxiety Avoid clock-watching if you wake up during the night. Sleep experts like Dr Eidn Mahmoudzadeh warn that checking the time triggers anxiety about lost sleep, leading to overthinking and mental calculations that keep you awake. Instead, remove all visible clocks from your bedroom to break this cycle. Your alarm will still wake you when needed. Avoid looking at your phone too—except to start a calming podcast. Professor Russell Foster calls this urge to check the time and scroll 'doomscrolling' and says resisting it is key. Trust your body's rhythm, not the numbers on the clock, to help you fall back asleep naturally. Manage your bedroom temperature to support sleep Room temperature plays a big role in sleep quality. It is recommended to keep bedrooms cooler—ideally around 18°C—as your core body temperature naturally drops to help trigger sleep. If it's too warm, especially during menopause or certain menstrual phases, hormonal changes can disrupt this process, making you more likely to wake up. Professionals suggest cooling techniques like standing on a cold floor or using a fan during night sweats. Simple tricks, like briefly uncovering yourself and then snuggling back under the covers, can help reset your body. Managing bedroom temperature can make falling—and staying—asleep easier. Use breathing exercises and visualisation to relax back to sleep Focusing on your breath is a proven way to calm the mind and drift back to sleep. Breathing exercises like box breathing (in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4) or the 4-7-8 method help lower stress and quiet racing thoughts. Professionals recommend adding visualisation, picturing a peaceful scene in detail—to shift your focus away from trying to sleep. Accept wakefulness to ease back into rest Don't panic about being awake—it only makes it harder to fall back asleep. Sleep physiologists say that resisting wakefulness triggers more alertness. Instead, give yourself permission to be awake without judgment. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), used in Meadows' sleep programme, encourages observing thoughts calmly, breathing through restlessness, and letting go of pressure to sleep. This mindset shift fosters a healthier, more trusting relationship with sleep. Removing pressure often leads to sleep returning naturally. Relaxation begins with acceptance, not resistance. Try switching sleep positions in the bed Sometimes a simple shift in position can help reset your brain. Sarah from Lincolnshire swears by an unconventional trick: moving her pillow to the foot of the bed and lying 'upside down.' While it may sound odd, this small physical change can interrupt the pattern of overthinking and create a novel sensory experience that helps calm a restless mind. Even changing sleeping positions—like moving from your back to your side—can signal the brain that it's time to relax. If traditional breathing techniques don't help, this gentle repositioning might just be the reset your brain needs to drift off. Limit evening drinks to reduce night-time wakeups and improve sleep quality Drinking excess fluids late in the evening can lead to frequent bathroom trips and disrupted sleep. Dr Zoe Schaedel advises reducing liquid intake a few hours before bed, especially for those prone to waking up to urinate. Russell Foster adds that the key is balance—stay hydrated during the day, but taper off in the evening. Avoid alcohol and caffeine too, as both interfere with sleep stages. Being mindful of what and when you drink is a small but impactful tweak that could significantly reduce night-time interruptions and support uninterrupted rest. Stick to a regular wake-up time for better sleep quality While weekend lie-ins may feel tempting, they can throw off your body's internal clock. Matthew Walker highlights that regular wake-up times and exposure to morning sunlight help stabilise your circadian rhythm, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. Sleeping in too long can shift your sleep cycle, causing grogginess and more trouble sleeping the next night. Try waking at the same time daily—even on weekends—and step outside in the morning light. It's a powerful, natural way to reset your system and maintain healthy sleep-wake patterns. Let go of sleep anxiety for better rest Sometimes, no sleep tip seems to work, but there's nothing to worry about. Professor Russell Foster reminds us that sleep isn't always a perfect eight hours. Night waking is natural, and many people sleep in two phases. Experts advise doing something low-key that you enjoy, like watching a cosy TV show or having a quiet snack. Let go of the stress about being awake. This mindset helps take the pressure off, making it easier to drift off again later—or at least turn a frustrating night into something more manageable. Also Read: Can the copper in your diet impact memory and dementia risk?
The Independent
29-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Feeling negative or impulsive? You might be sleep deprived
Neuroscientist Russell Foster says a lack of sleep can reduce empathy and increase focus on negative experiences. Dr Foster spoke at the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, which has partnered with The Independent. He explained that sleep deprivation can cause the brain to remember negative experiences while forgetting positive ones, biasing one's worldview. He added that tiredness leads to impulsivity, potentially causing people to make poor and unreflective decisions. Dr Foster suggested that political leaders' sleep deprivation could impact their ability to make sensible decisions. The results of a pilot study on the topic will be released soon.
Telegraph
30-03-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
How the clocks going forward affects your health – and what you can do about it
First devised as a means to save coal during the First World War, daylight saving time is something we Britons have learned to live with. By shifting our clocks an hour forward in spring we get to enjoy an extra hour of summer sunlight in the evenings, and switching them back in autumn helps avoid some of the morning gloom. However, an increasing body of evidence is beginning to show that, biologically speaking, daylight saving time could be doing us an immense amount of harm. So, who is most affected when the clocks change – and what can we do to reset effectively? Skip to: How it affects your health? Who does it affect the most? What to do about it FAQs How it affects your health 'If you think about what our biology needs to do, it has to deliver the right chemicals and hormones in the right concentrations to the right tissues and organs at the right time of day to be able to function,' explains Prof Russell Foster, professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford University. The way the body works out when it needs to perform all these actions is with an internal biological clock called the circadian rhythm. Everyone's circadian rhythm is slightly different, but broadly we all follow a pattern which is calibrated by sunlight: when the sun comes up it activates our daytime processes, when it goes down our sleeping processes come online. 'If you don't have that temporal structure, our biology starts to fall apart,' says Prof Foster. If you've ever felt groggy and slow after experiencing jet lag you'll understand what he's talking about. 'That circadian rhythm is absolutely essential for every aspect of our cognitive, emotional and physiological health. If you're pushing your system outside of its normal range, even by an hour, you're forcing it to function earlier than it would expect to and that can cause problems.' But why does the clocks changing have such an impact on our health? 'The analogy I've often made is that our bodies are a bit like an orchestra,' explains Prof Foster. 'You have all the members of the orchestra all playing together in a symphony but if you disrupt any part of that system, the orchestra just becomes a cacophony of sound. It's the same with our biology.' Beyond disrupting the body clock, daylight saving time can also affect heart health. In 2014, a study looking at heart attack admissions over three years from the University of Colorado found that the Monday after the clocks move forward in spring saw a 24 per cent spike in heart attacks, whereas on the Tuesday after the clocks fall back in autumn heart attacks went down by 21 per cent. A follow-up study from the American Heart Association found a similar effect four years later, but this time the increase was seen not just on Monday but all the way to Thursday after the clocks changed. And a 2016 study from the Finnish Cardiac Society showed strokes also increased by eight per cent until the Thursday after the clocks jumped forward. The fact that the clocks change on a Saturday night into Sunday morning, yet the increase in heart attacks was only observed on Monday, is likely to be relevant, says Dr Oliver Guttmann, consultant cardiologist at The Wellington Hospital, a part of HCA UK. 'The sleep-wake cycle has changed and therefore the body is more stressed, especially at the beginning of the week which most people find stressful anyway,' he says. 'Your nervous system is more on edge so you have an increased risk of getting heart complications.' In short, Mondays are already stressful and losing an hour of sleep only compounds the issue. Who does it affect the most? 'If you're relatively healthy and you're not sleep deprived do you need to worry? Probably not,' assures Prof Foster. 'What the heart attacks study illustrates is that people who are already weakened – let's say they already have a heart condition or a metabolic abnormality – become much more vulnerable to circadian rhythm disruption. If your body is chronically tired already then taking away an hour means that you're even more impaired.' The additional stress can then increase the risk of a heart attack, especially in patients who are already at risk due to having high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, or who are smokers or overweight. What to do about it 'You don't have to do the full hour-change in one night,' says Dr Guttmann. 'Rather than waking up an hour earlier, go to bed a little bit earlier, and gradually adjust by 15 minutes or so every day in the lead up to the clocks going forward.' 'Morning light and darker evenings make your body want to get up earlier and go to bed earlier, whereas darker mornings and lighter evenings do the opposite,' adds Prof Foster. 'When the clocks change you get less morning light so it becomes more difficult to sleep in the evenings, so I'd advise people to get out there and get as much morning light as possible to drag your circadian rhythm in the right direction. The studies have shown we get used to the daylight saving time after about a week so I'd be consciously trying to get up early in that first week – not earlier than you would normally, but don't sleep in – get outside and get some sunlight.' While Dr Guttmann stops short of recommending everyone just take the Monday after the clocks change off ('you might just delay the stress until Tuesday') he advises that people should try to adjust their stress levels. 'Try to have a few less meetings and allow yourself to have an easy morning while you get used to things,' he says. Additionally, Rhysa Phommachanh, health and personal care specialist at Landys Chemist, advises avoiding caffeine in the evenings so as to not further disrupt your ability to fall asleep at the new time. Home remedies such as warm milk or chamomile tea might also help to ease the transition into British summer time. That orchestra analogy might work here too: allow your circadian musicians to spend a bit of time warming up before you force them to play a big symphony. FAQs 1. When do the clocks go forward? In the UK, as in most of Europe, the clocks go forward by an hour on the last weekend of March. This year, British Summer Time starts on Sunday March 30 at 1am and marks the end of Greenwich Mean Time. 2. Why do the clocks go forward? In 1916, during the First World War, Germany first turned their clocks forward as a way of conserving energy. It meant they could use less heat and fewer lights during the brighter evenings. Shortly after, other countries adopted the idea, including the UK, where it was named British Summer Time.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brian Boru stands as a reminder of Portland's past. Is it time to move on?
Mar. 10—Whenever Russell Foster drives by the old Brian Boru building on Center Street in Portland, he stops to take a picture. A fan of Irish pubs, Foster, who moved to Maine in 2023, has wondered what it once was like and why it's unoccupied. About a month ago, he decided to ask the hive mind. "Whats the story behind this Pub? Been empty for years, are there any plans to revive it? its a really cool building," he posted on the Portland, Maine Facebook page with a photo of the distinctive red structure, its side painted with a mural of the toucan from Guinness ads, two pints of the stout atop its beak. Hundreds of people responded, reminiscing about meeting spouses and lifelong friends there, stopping by before a coencert or hockey game, enjoying cheap mimosas at brunch and, on some nights, imbibing more than they should have. It was also a prime location to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, on a circuit of Irish pubs in the Old Port with an all-day lineup of live music, free-flowing Guinness and shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. RiRa is the only one that's still open. Many of the Facebook commenters lamented Brian Boru's closure and some, more broadly, how Portland has changed. One of them said he avoids Center Street because it makes him too sad to see it empty. That's the building's double-edged sword. Unlike other beloved businesses that have turned into something different or been erased from sight by new development, it stands out: two stories tall, with its boldly painted brick, surrounded by empty lots — a reminder both of the good times had there and the fact that it's gone. Nearby insurance company MEMIC bought the building (which dates back to the 1800s) when the pub closed in 2019 after 26 years in business and had planned to demolish it to make way for an employee parking lot, but put that process on hold when, in 2021, someone came forward with a proposal to relocate it. That never came to fruition, and as of now, MEMIC — which owns the entire block surrounded by Spring, Center, Fore and Cotton streets — has no immediate plans for the building, but will "continue to explore opportunities for our employees and Portland," a spokesperson said in an email last week. One thing's for sure: If the company does ever decide to tear down the building, it will be hearing from Portland residents. We saw it with the Greyhound mural outside the former St. John Street bus station, when it was being replaced with an objectively more attractive work of art, and we're watching it play out right now with the former children's museum on Free Street. While a judge will decide if there's a legitimate reason not to tear down that building, I hardly doubt everyone who has rallied behind it is that concerned with the particulars of historic preservation. My guess? Many of them just want the streetscape to stay the same. I get it. The city has been whiplashed by change in the last decade or so, and it's hard not to want to hold onto what's left of the before times. Yes, there's the real fear of the now-allegorical Union Station situation, where we don't recognize the value of older structures or how quickly dated their replacements will become. And, as with the children's museum, there's the problem of setting precedent for future changes with fewer upsides than an expanded Portland Museum of Art. But neither applies to a standalone building, with no historic protections, on prime peninsula real estate. Foster, for one, envisions a scenario like in the beginning of the movie "Up," where a single house gets surrounded by skyscrapers. "It would be really cool if they could sell off that building and reopen it. That would be my dream scenario," he said, sounding a lot more like a longtime Mainer than someone who moved here recently. Despite being a Massachusetts transplant (maybe considered by some as part of the problem), Foster says he can relate to residents who are frustrated by the city becoming more expensive and losing its less pretentious establishments. That's what happened in his hometown of Newburyport, and why he and his wife bought a house in Lewiston. They hope to move to Portland one day and to be able to go to places like Brian Boru. As much as I'd love another summer day out on that deck (with the window open to the bar, but without the dance club vibes that took over inside, thank you very much), I'm not as optimistic. Maybe the guy who avoids Center Street has the right idea: that leaving those memories to the mind's eye makes it easier to move on. Thinking back on St. Patrick's Days past, I can easily picture the scene inside Brian Boru without looking at the building, and I'm guessing, some day, that will have to be enough. Copy the Story Link
